LAHORE: Prolific opening batsman Abid Ali of Pakistan is eyeing the record of former Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin of scoring three consecutive centuries in his first three Tests when Bangladesh face Pakistan in the two-Test series starting on Feb 7 in Rawalpindi.

“It will be a great opportunity for me to score a century against Bangladesh to equal the record of great Indian batsman Azharuddin [of consecutive three centuries] in as many Tests,” Abid said while talking to reporters on the first day of the three-day warm-up in the training camp set up at the Gaddafi Stadium for the opening Test against Bangladesh.

On his Test debut in India against England in 1984-85, right-handed Azharuddin scored 110 in the first innings of the first Test at Kolkata, 105 in the second innings of the second Test at Chennai and then he smashed 122 in the first innings of the third Test in Kanpur. Prolific Azharuddin went on to become one of India’s best batsmen, collecting 6215 Tests runs with the help of 22 centuries and 21 half-centuries in 99 games at a decent average of 45.03. He captained India in 47 Tests and 174 ODIs from 1990 to 1999.

The 32-year-old Abid, whose international debut was in doldrums despite giving fine performances at on the domestic circuit, made his Test debut with a big bang, scoring century against Sri Lanka in the rain-hit drawn first Test 109 (not out) in Rawalpindi. In the second Test staged at Karachi, Abid scored an epic 174 in the second innings after scoring 38 in the first. And now he can match Azharuddin’s record in the third Test of his career against Bangladesh.

So far right-handed Abid has scored 321 in the first two Tests of his career at an excellent average of 160.50. He has also accumulated 191 runs in four One-day Internationals averaging 47.75.

After attending the training camp, Abid said, now the boys had started a three-day warm-up match and all were preparing well for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.

Abid said he would play with a positive mind and his only focus was to perform for the team.

“After scoring two centuries in my first two Tests, I would focus on delivering for Pakistan’s victory in the Bangladesh series,” he told media.

Abid said though he had been closely watching India’s iconic batsman Sachin Tendulkar, he also liked to watch great Pakistan batsmen including Younis Khan and Inzamam-ul-Haq. However, Abid added that he had no desire to be called ‘Pakistan’s Tendulkar’ and wanted to focus on the game.

When pointed out that Tendulkar, unlike him (Abid), had made his debut in international cricket much earlier, Abid said it did not matter adding “sometimes later is better”.

Responding to a query on playing T20 cricket after starting off well in Test and ODI formats, Abid said he was ready for the shortest format of the game, adding “whenever I get any chance I will try my best to perform”.

To a question, Abid said though he had not been getting the chance to represent Pakistan despite consistently performing at the domestic level, his father encouraged him to remain focused on the game so that “I could give my 100 per cent whenever I get the chance”.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2020